moonslav59

Did I really need to put a sarcasm alert on this one, or are you being sarcastic?

We shoulda held onto the 2013 team until now.

It was 5.27 vs the Sox before opening day 2021. (Now, it's 4.46.)

lol !

Yesterday?

Okay, it's just my opinion we'd suck had we kept and paid anyone and everyone we shed but Betts. There was a time people complained we let Pedro go. We let Damon go. We let Ellsbury go. We won rings shortly afterwards, and we will again after this purge. (Yes, another opinion.) Look, JBJ was my favorite player for many years. It was time to move on from him and everyone else we let go, save Mookie. (opinion)

Don't remind us. We also had these records at various times in 2019: 6-13 13-17 After going 11-2 from 4/29 to 5/12, we went 7-11, then won 4 in a row, followed by 1-5 and 5-0 and 4-6 and on and on... The real killer was winning 3 straight vs the Yanks, then losing 8 straight vs NYY & TBR. We finished the 2019 season: 8-13.

Let's see what people say after we put together a long winning streak or stretch.

...and not only lose more, now, but also doom the future to futility?

We will spend very big again. I say "very" big, because we are already spending big. The time to spend is when you think you might be 2-3 big players away from a good chance at winning it all. It is obvious, we are not there yet, but maybe by this upcoming winter or the following one, we could be.

Do you really want Price, Porcello, Kimbrel, Kelly, Velazquez, Brian Johnson, Hembree, Thornburg, Workman, Beni, JBJ, Nunez, Pearce, Moreland, Holt, Swihart, HRam, Kinsler back? Would we be any better? Yes, missing Betts hurts, but we'd be in worse shape now and looking forward, had we paid these guys what they wanted and got.

Yes, we have cut some from the budgets of 2018 and 2019, but in the grand scheme of Sox budgets past, this is kind of in sinc... We are still spending more than any other season, except 2018 and 2019, even counting inflation. 2001>2021: 110 108 100 127 124 120 143 134 122 168 164 175 155 156 184 198 197 234 236 184 (pro-rated) 206 There were ups and downs all along- some by more than others.

We are still a top 3 spending team. Please elaborate.

I was hoping he would/could. He's still got a $205M budget. The top priority, however, was always about 2022 and beyond, IMO, hence all the one year deals. I see 2021 more as a bridge year than a rebuild year, although both come into play. Next winter, when the wallet opens (I hope), we could start seeing some 2+ year deals and a true building of a coherent team. The questions Nick brought up should have clearer answers by then, and we'll know what areas of need we need to go to FAs with. Hopefully, it will be less holes than we had, this winter. Bloom has built up the farm, but it still needs more building. He's built up the bottom of the 40 man roster light years better than 2021, but that could use improvement, too. Hopefully, we can get some youth (and vets) showing they can fill some key slots: CF: Duran or Cordero 2B: Downs, Arauz, Arroyo, Munoz 3B or 1B: Devers 1B or 3B: Dalbec 1B, 2B, OF: Chavis SP: Houck, Seabold and maybe others RP: DHern, Whitlock and a few others If very few or none of these guys show hope, we won't spend bi, next winter, IMO. The whole plan will be set a year ahead, and the draft will be the key to the next big spend.

I was told not to even say the "C" word. It hurts some, too much.

Agreed. I would add Cordero to the list. Sale is important, too, but he belongs in a separate category.

I guess you could, but it is such a very small amount of influence- much smaller than even Theo.

The conversation was about how we let all too many players go from our 2018 team. Are you okay with us letting Kimbrel go? Everybody else but Betts?

True, and one could probably even argue Theo had an influence on Ben and DD and hence this team. I just thought I'd throw a jab at DD to counter all the "thanks Ben" comments.

It's 3 games. 3 games. Just 3 games. 3. Games. Three!

I'll never hope we suck, unless maybe, when it's the end of a season and we can get a higher draft pick, and even then... It's certainly too early to think fire sale, and you won't get back what you'd get nearer the deadline.

For 3 games? Would you have wanted the Sox to re-sign him, in hindsight or even if he were a FA, this past winter? The only guy we lost, worth his contract is Betts, and he's getting paid more than 15% of our current budget.

We'd still suck with all of em back, except Betts, and even he wouldn't be enough. We sucked in 2019 with just about everyone but Kimbrel & Kelly, and they suck, now.

If we continue to suck, we could see a massive fire sale.

A big chunk of the 26 man roster is only under team control for 1-2 years. 10 FAs after this year and players coming off the payroll ($ lux tax): $13.8M Pedey $10.0M Richards ('22option) $8.9M Ottavino $8.3M ERod $5.0M Perez ('22 option) $4.5M Barnes $4.5M Vaz ('22 option) $3.0M Marwin $2.8M Beni $1.9M Andriese ('22 option) 6-7 Players coming off the books after 2022 (option players for '22 not listed) $22.0M JD ($20M Bogey opt out) $17.0M Eovaldi $16.0M Price $7.0M EHern $1.6M Plawecki $1.2M Sawamura ('23 option) That's 16-17 players off the books. What remains in 2023? $25.6M Sale ($20M Bogey if no opt out) Devers- 3 of 3 arb Renfroe- 4 of 4 arb Brasier- 3 of 3 Brice & Cordero- 3 of 3 Verdugo, Pivetta, Arroyo, Taylor, Brewer- 2 of 3 Chavis- 2 of 4 DHern, Valdez, Arauz- 1st arb Houck, Dalbec, Whitlock, Bazardo, Groome, Mata, Seabold,Potts, Rosario, Wong and others- pre-arb